1905-11-23 Abe Attell D-PTS15 Kid Sullivan [Eureka Athletic Club, Maennerchor Hall, Baltimore, MD, USA]

1905-11-24 Baltimore American (Baltimore, MD) (page 12)

JABBED SULLY WITH HIS LEFT
--------
ABE ATTELL EARNED A DRAW IN FIFTEEN ROUNDS.
--------
Men Had Agreed on Decision Barring a Knockout and Both Were Strong at the End of a Hard Fight--Washington Lad Carried the Battle to the Man From the Coast, but Was Not Able to Break in Enough to Stop Him--Huge Crowd at Eureka Club.
--------

For 15 rounds Kid Sullivan backed Abe Attell over the stage at the meeting of the Eureka Athletic Club, Germania Maennerchor Hall, last night. At the end Referee James O'Hara called it a draw and the huge crowd that packed every cranny of the hall left well satisfied with the verdict. As a matter of fact, it would have been called a draw at the end of the bout in any event other than a knockout or disqualification, as the men had agreed for the decision to be rendered a draw if both should be on their feet at the end of the journey. This agreement was made on the insistence of Attell, who held out for it in his dressing-room before the battle, according to the statement of Al Herford.

As all students of the game believed, so the fight went. Sullivan was in superb condition and seemed anxious enough to win, but Attell had an antidote for his ambition in a cruel left jab, with which he led his campaign of stalling and defensive fighting. With this left jab persistent and insistent, Attell kept Sullivan at a respectful distance more than the friends of the man from Washington thought possible. With the straight left over guard and to nose and mouth, Attell taught caution to his antagonist and made him early forget his announced determination of finishing with a knockout the wily mitt artist from the California Coast.


1905-11-24 The Evening World (New York, NY) (page 18)

"KID" SULLIVAN HAD ALL THE BEST OF ABE ATTELL
--------
'Frisco Lad Was Wise to Insist Upon a Draw If Both Were on Their Feet at the End.
--------
(Special to The Evening World.)

BALTIMORE, Md., Nov. 24.--It was a good thing for Abe Attell that he insisted before entering the ring of the Eureka A. C. last night for his battle with "Kid" Sullivan, of Washington, that the contest should be declared a draw if both men were on their feet at the end of the fifteen rounds. Otherwise the decision would have been awarded to the Washington boy.

Sullivan outfought Attell in every round but the eighth. He did all of the fighting, while Attell seemed satisfied by his cleverness to try to keep out of harm's way. This he managed to do, but when Sullivan kept boring in abd began playing a tattoo on Abe's stomach and kidneys the Californian began to fly signals of distress.

He weakened toward the end of the battle, and Sullivan tried hard to get home a finishing blow, but by tin-canning and clever ducking Attell managed to evade Sullivan's hard swings.

Sullivan never let his opponent rest a minute; he rushed him in every round and Attell gave a great exhibition of clever footwork and ring generalship. Attell used his right hand very little, but kept jabbing away with his left to Sullivan's nose, and in the third round he brought the claret. His blows lacked steam, however, and the "Kid" seemed perfectly willing to take a punch in order to land one.

Sullivan surprised his most ardent admirers by his clever work, as in some of the rounds he actually outboxed his clever opponent. He was unable, however, to land effectively on Attell's jaw or face and contented himself with dealing out terrific blows to the body.

This punishment soon began to show effect and in the thirteenth round Attell began to slow up. In the fourteenth the "Kid" thought that he could turn the trick. He rushed Attell to the ropes, landed hard to the stomach and then crossed his right to the head. The blow staggered Attell and Sullivan kept boring in, but Attell recuperated quickly an saved himself by his good ring generalship.

The boys weighed in at 6 o'clock. Sullivan weighed 128½ pounds and Attell 122½. Both were in good condition. Attell had the advantage of height and reach. Attell was seconded by Tommy Daly, Dal Hawkins and Cy Goldie, while Al Herford, Sammy Harris, Herman Miller and "Skip" Warren looked after Sullivan. James O'Hara refereed.

In the preliminaries Benny Reilly, of the city, lost to "Young Spike Sullivan," of Sheepshead Bay, in the third round on a foul, and "Kid" Egan, of Washington, and Burt Lewis, of London, England, fought five fast rounds to a draw.


1905-11-24 The Sun (Baltimore, MD) (page 8)

A DRAW WITH ATTELL
--------
Clever Californian Holds Off Sullivan For 15 Rounds.
--------
LANDS OFTEN ON THE KID
--------
But Abe's Blows Lack Steam And Do Not Bother Washingtonian--Big Crowd Sees The Battle.

Germania Mænnerchor Hall was packed to its utmost last night. Members of the Eureka Athletic Club who failed to get there early could not find even standing room. The attraction was a 15 round set to between Kid Sullivan, of Washington, and Abe Attell, of San Francisco. In the language of ring followers it was a swell fight, ending a draw.

According to Manager Al Herford, Attell insisted before he went into the ring that the decision should be a draw providing both men were on their feet at the end of the fifteenth round. This made Referee Jim O'Hara's job an easy one so far as rendering a decision was concerned.

The battle was a hard fought one throughout. It was stated before it began that Sullivan had tipped the scales at 128 pounds and Attell at 122½ pounds at 6 P. M. The fight was a contest between a quick, scientific ring general and a sturdy, hard hitting man. Sullivan was of the latter class. He showed a decided improvement in his mark at close fighting, but he was up against a man who was so much faster and cleverer than himself, and at times it looked like a dray horse against a sprinter.

Attell The Ring General.

Though Sullivan was aware of the fact that he had to score a knockout, he was not at all times willing to go in when told to do so by Al Herford, who was advising him from his corner, and let several chances go by when he might have scored. There were times when Sullivan looked as though he would win decisively, but the excellent ring generalship and remarkably good foot work sided, when occasion demanded, by straight jabs by the Californian blocked such a result. Had the battle been to a decision, unlimited in number of rounds, the chances are that Sullivan would have won.

At the end of the fifteenth round it looked to be about 100 to 50 Sullivan to win had the battle been carried to a finish. So far as the landing of clean blows was concerned Attell landed at least 4 to 1, but, as to the effect of the blows one of Sullivan's equaled a dozen of Attell's. During the entire 15 rounds Sullivan did not land more than two good face blows. He reached the clever man's neck quite often and at close range did some good body punching. Attell, on the other hand, was able to jab Sullivan's face often, but the blows lacked force to hurt so sturdy a man as the Washingtonian. They bruised his face, but that was all.

Sullivan was seconded by Skip Warren, Sammy Harris and Herman Miller, with Al Herford as chief adviser. Attell had Si Goldie, Dal Hawkins and Tom Daly in his corner.

The Fight By Rounds.

The fight by rounds was as follows.

Round 1--Both men were cautious and would not put full force in a lead. It was a feeling-out round, with but little doing.

Round 2--Attell had confidence in his cleverness and took a few chances. He made Sullivan at times fan the air and look cheap, but Attell's jabs were not hurting the sturdy Washingtonian. Sullivan kept boring in trying, ineffectually, to land. On points only Attell had the better of the round.

Round 3--A nice mix ensued early in the round. Then Attell danced away. Sullivan finally reached him, landing a left and right to the face. Attell had to dance away and jab, with Sullivan following him. Sullivan was now showing to advantage and had the call in the betting. Attell's jabs did not appear to hurt any.

Round 4--Sullivan judged distance badly. Attell landed when he would lead, and Sullivan's face showed bruises. Attell was by far the cleverer, but his blows lacked steam.

Round 5--Sullivan was still carrying the fight to Attell, but the latter's cleverness in back and side stepping caused Sullivan to lose confidence in leading, so many of his blows having fallen short. So far the battle was an even one.

Sullivan Gets In Closer.

Round 6--Sullivan got in closer and did good, effective short arm work. Most of Sullivan's blows, however, were high on the chest, and both were fighting as strong in this round as at the beginning of the battle. It was a pretty round, with honors as they had been previously--nearly even.

Round 7--Sullivan was leading, but failed to land until Attell tried an ineffectual right swing for the head, when the Kid countered on the body. It was what some folks call a swell fight, and the crowd yelled first for one and then for the other combatant. Each gave and received blows, but neither was able to land effectually. Sullivan showed a decided improvement as the battle progressed.

Round 8--Sullivan got Attell in a corner, but the latter dexterously worked his way out without being hurt. In this round Attell by his cleverness made Sullivan look like a novice, though he was not able to hurt the Washingtonian to any appreciable extent.

Round 9--On points Attell was still in the lead, but it looked to those who follow the game closely as though the betting on the final result would find the Kid a ruling favorite. Sullivan landed hard on the body and face in the latter part of the round, and the battle looked to be going his way. This was his first advantage.

Has Attell Guessing.

Round 10--Sullivan began to work hard and do it with more confidence. He had Attell guessing. Attell's jabs landed on the Kid's face, but he did not appear to care. Attell landed a hard left to the jaw at the gong. The round was one in which there was much sparring and but little hurt done.

Round 11--Now the crowd began to look for the battle to go the limit. Sullivan landed on Abe's jaw, and the latter looked over to the Kid's seconds and laughed. Then Sullivan landed a body blow which took the smile off. Both landed several good hard blows. Honors were even.

Round 12--Sullivan landed a hard left to the neck. Attell's jabs were cutting Sullivan's face open. At the gong Sullivan reached Attell's jaw hard.

Round 13--A mix ensued early and Sullivan landed repeatedly on Abe's body. The Kid reached the jaw with a left and in a mix punished Attell's body. When they got apart Sullivan landed twice on Attell's jaw and the crowd yelled.

Round 14--Attell landed on the body, Sullivan on the ribs, and Attell slipped down. The crowd yelled to Sullivan to go in and finish his man. Attell, though not so fast, was still fighting. Sullivan had a big shade the better of the round.

Round 15--Sullivan was confident and anxious. He had to score a knockout to get a decision and was trying to do it. The Kid was able to reach his weakened opponent's face. Attell was anxious for the gong, as he was weary. When the gong struck and ended hostilities both men were in fighting trim, though Sullivan was much the stronger of the two.

Result Of The Preliminaries.

The preliminary fights resulted as follows.

Kid Tutts stopped Kid Lucas in the second round.

Larry Temple, colored, stopped Buck Washington, colored, in the second round.

Young Spike Sullivan and Benny Riley were booked for four rounds. Sullivan had the better of the first round, but in the second and third Riley was winning. In the third round Sullivan slipped down and Riley hit him after he landed on his hands and knees and Referee Fred Sweigert disqualified Riley, giving the decision to Sullivan.

Young Jackson, colored, and Edward Howard, colored, were booked for four rounds. Jackson was the cleverer and put his man out in the third round. Up to the time Howard was sent down he had made a game fight.

The semi windup was between Kid Egan, of Washington, and Bert Lewis, of England. It was set for four rounds, but Referee Sweigert ordered an extra round. The battle was a hard one, resulting in a draw.


1905-11-24 The Sun (New York, NY) (page 5)

ATTELL AND SULLIVAN DRAW.
--------
Featherweight Champion Has All He Can Do to Hold His Own.

Baltimore, Nov. 23.--In one of the fastest and most interesting contests seen in this city in many a day, Featherweight Champion Abe Attell fought a fifteen-round draw with Kid Sullivan of Washington before the Eureka A. C., this city, to-night. The mill was full of action from the opening round to the end, and free from clinching or wrestling.

Sullivan, who has met both Battling Nelson and Jimmy Britt made a grand showing, and there were many in the large crowd who thought that he was entitled to the honors. In this combat Attell's wonderful cleverness came to his aid a number of times. He managed to keep Sullivan in check only by excellent footwork and jabbing. Sullivan was the stronger and the better puncher.

There was scarcely elbow room when the principals in the main contest entered the ring. As early as 9 o'clock the crush was so great that the doors had to be locked and hundreds of persons were turned away. The agreement was 133 pounds at 6 o'clock, but both scrappers were well under this scale. Attell announced his weight as 122½ pounds, while Sullivan confessed to 128½ pounds.

Attell started by rushing. He reached Sullivan with the left and right and hooked the Kid on the jaw. Sullivan got to Attell's body at the bell. In the second Sullivan attacked Attell's wind and kidneys with rights and lefts. Attell landed a few light jabs, but had to execute a lot of clever footwork to escape Sullivan's wicked rushes.

Sullivan chased Attell all over the ring in the third, landing on the body and jaw. Attell was staggered with a short right hook on the jaw. Attell jabbed twice, but was beaten down against the ropes with right and left to the stomach. Attell tantalized Sullivan with left jabs in the fourth, but the Kid landed effective punches on the body.

Sullivan forced things in the fifth, swinging both hands. He would not connect, through Attell being too speedy. Sullivan lifted Attell completely off his feet with a right uppercut and Attell went to his corner pretty tired. Sullivan did a lot of rushing in the sixth, catching Attell twice, hard blows, on the mouth. Attell scored only with light jabs.

Attell's straight lefts, which he shot out frequently in the seventh, had no terrors for Sullivan. The latter kept boring in all the time, landing on the kidneys and body. Attell tried his hand at body work in the eighth. He put the left twice into the wind, causing Sullivan to clinch. Attell was very scientific and Sullivan could not locate him.

Sullivan cut out the pace in the ninth. He rushed Attell to a corner and sent home straight rights and hooks. Toward the close Attell was the aggressor and both men finished the round fresh and strong. Sullivan forced matters in the tenth, but Attell found him with straight ones on the nose and mouth. Attell kept meeting all of Sullivan's leads with straight smashes and made Sullivan wince at the gong with a hard right on the chin.

The fighting was fast and vicious in the eleventh. Attell countered freely, and for the first time during the scrap they mixed it up. Attell had the better of the mixing and wound up the round with four successful jabs on the Kid's nose. Attell sent Sullivan's head back in the twelfth with a left jab and pounded Sullivan's wind. Sullivan missed two rights for the jaw, and the crowd laughed at his inability to land on Attell.

They roughed it in the thirteenth. Sullivan reached Attell's wind and landed a hard right on the nose. Attell tried some fancy footwork, but Sullivan stopped him with rights and lefts to the stomach. Attell then retaliated with jabs and hooks and counters on the jaw. In the fourteenth Sullivan did a lot of forcing. He put a left on the jaw, and in attempting to get away from a right, Attell stumbled. Attell arose quickly and evened scores by jabbing and hooking Sullivan on the face and nose.

Attell began the final round with a hard left to the nose. The pair then exchanged lefts and rights, Attell avoiding a number of well-aimed blows. Sullivan scored on the jaw and kidneys, but Attell stopped him with a hard left to the wind. They were mixing it up at the bell, Attell getting home with the left on the face.


1905-11-24 The Washington Times (Washington, DC) (page 13)

ATTELL-SULLIVAN DECISION PLEASED
--------
Kid Earned Draw by His Aggressiveness.
--------
ABE WONDERFUL DODGER
--------
Got Out of Way of Right Swings by Hair's Breadth--Left Jab Worried Washingtonian.
--------

Kid Sullivan got a draw in fifteen rounds with Abe Attell before the Eureka Club in Baltimore last night, and it was a good decision.

Seldom has a better fight been seen in this neck of the wood. There was something doing every little minute, and there were constant happenings to make the spectators crane their necks. The crowd, by the way, filled the hall to overflowing, and there was not an inch of space unsold.

Attell stipulated before the fight, according to Al Herford, that it should be a draw if both were on their feet when the end came, but Herford made no mention of this until the fight was about half over. Why such a wonderfully clever man as Attell should have made that stipulation for a bout with a man like Sullivan was not apparent, for it was thought he could outpoint his opponent all the way through.

Draw Well Earned.

As a matter of fact, Attell did outpoint Sullivan, but taking the fight as a fight, and not as a side issue to a pink tea, the Washington boy well earned a draw. Attell has a peculiarly effective left jab. It goes to the face so swiftly that it is almost impossible to block it. The incessant stabs in the face from this left would worry a wooden Indian and fill Attell's rivals with a sort of nervous caution while in the ring. They may know the jab is not particularly dangerous, but it is annoying, and makes the other fellow apprehensive whenever he starts to do something on his own account.

The effect of the jab showed plainly on Sullivan last night. He is a hardy, nervy fighter, always willing to take punishment to inflict it in return, but he was tapped on the face so often and persistently that he was plainly puzzled, and didn't know exactly how to proceed. It was comparatively seldom Sullivan could stop the blow, although on several occasions he met Attell at his own game and gave left punches in return. The trouble with these punches was that they landed in most instances upon the upper part of the chest, where they had little effect, or on the neck, when Attell was going away. Only once did Kid get his man coming in.

Wonderful Dodging.

Sullivan knew he was going to be outboxed, for he was against the shiftiest man now before the public, while he himself is not particularly fast or clever. Therefore, he carried the fight to Attell and was constantly trying for a knockout. The Kid swung right after right at Abe's head which the foxy Frisco boy dodged by a hair's breadth. So often did Kid hit at the place where Abe's jaw should have been only to find it filled with superheated tobacco smoke, that he was kept up in the air about half the time and knew not what to do. How Attell escaped some of these blows is still a mystery, but it was done by some sort of an almost imperceptible movement which calculated exactly how far Sullivan's swing would travel.

Attell's footwork was the feature next to his dodging of swings. Sullivan tried time after time to get him in a corner, but he was elusive as a ball of mercury, and skipped nimbly out of danger in most cases, but there were times when Sullivan landed rights and lefts in a corner and took the smile off Abe's face. Not only would Attell escape, but he would wheel around and be right back with that left jab before Sullivan could set himself, and the bleeding nose of the Washington boy would receive more massage.

Kid Finished Strong.

In the last three or four rounds Sullivan went for the body more and obtained good results. His heavy thumps made Attell wary, and if the Kid had not been so anxious for a knockout early in the game, he might have done some execution with kidney wallops. Attell never tried for the wind at all, and practically used his right for no purpose except defense.

The ninth and eleventh rounds were decidedly Sullivan's, while his aggressiveness and body blows in the last four sessions atoned for Attell's stabs, so that the final result was about even.

In the semi-windup Kid Egan, of Washington, met Burt Lewis, who, Herford announced, was an Englishman. Lewis was stiff-armed and had little punch, but he was better than expected and gave Egan a hard row to travel. The Washingtonian relied too much on a straight left punch which was not marked by any particular science of delivery, and while the Englishman got it in the neck at times, the draw decision was just.